How to Install Nginx Proxy Manager on Linux Mint

Nginx Proxy Manager is a web-based application designed to manage multiple Nginx reverse proxies at one place. It provides a simple, intuitive user interface for managing the domains, SSL certificates, and proxy settings. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install Nginx Proxy Manager on Linux Mint.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you need to have the following requirements:

  • A Linux Mint machine with root or sudo access.
  • Docker and Docker Compose installed.

Step 1: Clone Nginx Proxy Manager Repository

First, you need to clone the Nginx Proxy Manager repository from GitHub using the following command:

git clone https://github.com/nginx-proxy-manager/nginx-proxy-manager.git

Once the cloning process is completed, go to the project directory using the following command:

cd nginx-proxy-manager

Step 2: Configure Environment Variables

Next, you need to set up some environment variables required by the Nginx Proxy Manager. You can set up these environment variables in the .env file.

Create a copy of the sample environment file using the following command:

cp .env.sample .env

Next, open the .env file in a text editor and modify the following variables as per your requirements:

DB_DATA_PATH=./data/db
DATA_PATH=./data
LETSENCRYPT_DIR=./data/acme

Step 3: Generate App Secret

NPM uses an app secret for authentication and session data. You can generate a new app secret using the following command:

openssl rand -base64 32 > ./data/secret.txt

Step 4: Start Nginx Proxy Manager

You have configured everything required for the Nginx Proxy Manager. Now, you can start the application using the following command:

docker-compose up -d

The above command will start the Nginx Proxy Manager containers in the background.

To check the running containers, use the following command:

docker ps

You will see the following output:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                                             COMMAND                  CREATED          STATUS          PORTS                                                  NAMES
c39d9ac92f0c   nginxproxymanager/nginx-proxy-manager:latest      "/app/docker-entryp…"   3 seconds ago    Up 1 second     8080/tcp, 0.0.0.0:81->81/tcp, 0.0.0.0:443->443/tcp   nginxproxymanager_nginx-proxy-manager_1
d6a08fe616a7   jwilder/nginx-proxy:latest                        "/app/docker-entryp…"   17 seconds ago   Up 15 seconds   0.0.0.0:80->80/tcp, 0.0.0.0:443-443/tcp              nginxproxymanager_proxy_1

Step 5: Access Nginx Proxy Manager Web Interface

By default, the Nginx Proxy Manager listens on port 81 for web traffic. Open a web browser and navigate to http://your-server-ip:81 or http://localhost:81 if you have installed the application on the same machine.

You will see the Nginx Proxy Manager login page. Enter the default login credentials:

After a successful login, you will see the Nginx Proxy Manager dashboard.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you have learned how to install and configure Nginx Proxy Manager on Linux Mint. With the help of the Nginx Proxy Manager, you can easily manage multiple Nginx reverse proxies in one place.